I have not filed income taxes for 5 years. But I withheld more than I owe. What to do?????

Question

I did not file due to divorce and procrastination. Once I missed the first year it was harder and harder to do the next year. This year I want to catch up and get squared away. Even tho I withheld more than I owed, am I still in trouble? What would you do? This is U.S. income tax by the way.

Answer 1

You are not in trouble for owing tax, since you do not owe any back taxes.

You do not need an attorney. This is a common occurrence.

Take your papers to a tax preparer and get those returns filed. I highly recommend going immediately, do not wait until April.

Preparers see these problems two days before the filing season closes, and sometimes it is not possible to get returns filed before losing a refund.

You will get your refunds for 2003, 2004, and 2005. Be prepared to pay the preparation costs up front so that your returns can be given to you and mailed. Your preparation costs cannot be taken out of a refund for a prior year.

Answer 2

No, you aren't in trouble. For any years where there was a refund coming, you can still get it back to tax year 2003 (if you file by 4/15/07) - anything further back is lost. There won't be any penalties for filing returns late for any year where more was withheld than you owed.

If you owed for any of those years, even if your net was a refund, you'd still pay interest and penalties for that year or years.

Answer 3

You can (and should) still file those returns. If you have a refund due there will not be any penalty for late filing of your Federal returns. Some states do assess a penalty for late filing even when a refund is due; OH is a good example of one that does.

The filing deadline for claiming a refund for tax year 2003 is April 17, 2007. Any refunds due to you for tax year 2002 or earlier are lost forever as you must claim any refunds within 3 years of the filing deadline. You should still file those returns anyway to close the books on those tax years as the IRS can review any tax return for 3 years from the filing deadline of 3 years from the date that the return was filed, whichever is later. Since you haven't yet filed returns for those years they will remain open forever until you do file.

Answer 4

First of all, you should get everything filed asap. If you are due a refund for any particular year, you won't be penalized for late filing since penalties are calculated on taxes due. The bad part is that you won't receive any refunds on any returns that are more than 3 years past due. If you think you are due a refund for 2003, you have a little less than a month to get that return done before you miss out on that refund. Sadly, if you owe, there is no 3 year rule like there is for refunds.

Answer 5

Start TODAY, not because you will be in trouble but why would you want to lose a potential refund. You have provided a tax free loan to uncle Sam already why compound it. The IRS can help, either the toll free number or the website, which I find most helpful. www.irs.gov. Take it from me a retired IRS agent, the IRS works for you so use it as a resource. They are paid to help you. Get started !

Answer 6

Your circumstances are not unusual -- many people have this happen when they go through life struggles.

Definitely see a tax lawyer. You will need one to negotiate this and it will save you a lot of money and grief in the long run. I have friends who had similar experiences. The IRS is much more lenient if you come forward voluntarily but you really must have legal counsel to help and protect you. Good luck!

Answer 7

File the returns for all five years back.

Answer 8

you get penalty that for sure

do 5 years back and pay your penalty you will get letters

if you owe your screwed but it have refund they will take it away 5 years not doing taxes are you ok

Answer 9

Go see a lawyer.